Over the years, literally thousands of songs, of numerous varieties, have been recorded at Outback Studios! The reasons for recording these songs has been quite varied as well.
Often an artist needs to have merchandise to sell at their gigs, while some need to have something for club owners to hear so they can get jobs. Songwriter’s need demos (demonstration recordings) to send to publishing companies and artists, in hopes of their song or songs being recorded. That dream of “mailbox money” can sure motivate songwriters! Too many times, the studio is called upon to help prepare music for a funeral. This is often a depressing undertaking (see what I did there??), but in the end, it’s also quite fulfilling to be of help in times of sorrow.
A favorite type of project is when a husband or wife wants to sing a song for their spouse, be it for their anniversary, birthday, or whatever. An added joy is when a song is being recorded for an upcoming wedding. What makes this scenario interesting, besides the love that’s being shared, is that many times this customer will tell me they have never sung before-not to mention never having recorded, of course. Usually these are fun sessions because the customer is often surprised at how painless the process of recording can be and more surprised at what the studio can do to pull a pretty good vocal out of them! I remember asking a gentleman after his first studio experience if he had a good time. His answer was, “It was more fun than Six Flags-and cheaper, too!”.
Many recording sessions have taken on a more lengthy and serious approach to the process only because they were intended for a much broader audience. Some examples would be in order. Somehow, somewhere, Louise Mandrell heard some good news about the Rider High School Choir right here in Wichita Falls and Outback Studios was commissioned to record some select members of the choir to use on Louise’s newest Christmas album. The Mandrell people sent us some tracks, we added the choir members to those tracks, and sent them back to Nashville. Louise had her choir! Nope! Never did see Louise. Got paid though…
Gary P. Nunn has graced the doorway to Outback Studios to record a Christmas song and about a half dozen song demos from here have resulted in local writers having their songs recorded by Gary!
Johnny Cooper, a longtime friend of the studio, recorded a song here that was included in an actual Hollywood movie called Deep In The Heart. The movie stars Val Kilmer, Jon Gries, Elaine Hendrix, and D B Sweeney, and is a very heart warming and emotional story. Johnny’s recording was, of course, also included in the soundtrack album for the movie, along with other artists such as Charlie Daniels, Larry Gatlin, Wade Bowen, Tara Hazlewood, Chelsea Lankes, and Brison Bursey. The executive producer for the soundtrack was Jeff “Skunk” Baxter of Steely Dan and Doobie Brother’s fame.
All levels of success have been achieved from songs recorded at Outback Studios. For some folks, they didn’t sell too well for whatever reason. On the other hand, one group was signed to Sony Records after sending in their demo. Some artists have managed to sell thousands of copies of their products produced right here. Some have put their music career in gear using this local studio. Other customers continued to use the studio over and over for years. Some have never returned for whatever reason!! Lol!
If you have a dream, kick start it right here at home at Outback Studios. Come see us!
